Kolkata, Jan 29, 2026
A single-judge Bench of the Calcutta High Court on Thursday gave conditional approval to the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, to conduct a protest march on Friday near the site of the burned warehouses in Anandapur, located on the southern outskirts of Kolkata, where many people have died and several others are still unaccounted for.
Earlier in the day, LoP Suvendu Adhikari approached the single-judge Bench of Justice Suvra Ghosh as the local police not only denied him permission for the protest march but also imposed prohibitory orders in a 100-metre radius around the gutted warehouses.
The matter was heard on Thursday afternoon, and finally, the single-judge Bench gave conditional approval for the protest march.
The single-judge Bench directed the LoP to conduct the protest march on a different route and ordered that the protest should not have more than 2,000 participants.
The march should stop 200 metres away from the local Narendrapur Police Station, and a five-member delegation would be allowed to enter the police station to submit a deputation in the matter, the single-judge Bench ordered.
On Thursday afternoon, a group of BJP legislators went near the site of the gutted warehouses but remained beyond the 100-metre radius, keeping in mind the prohibitory order imposed there.
“Mamata Banerjee failed to play the role of a Chief Minister over this tragedy. She did not come to the spot even once. I have come here to be beside the people. But I will remain at a distance since I respect the law,” the LoP said.
Speaking to reporters on the occasion, he also accused the authorities of under-quoting the death toll.
“I have information that at least 40 people have died because of the fire. The body parts are silently wrapped in fruit-packets and moved away from the spot,” the LoP alleged.(Agency)
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